


Fallout 4: Man and Machine

by RYBY



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, How Do I Tag, Some Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:27:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29161911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RYBY/pseuds/RYBY
Summary: When Tristram Raeburn moved to Sanctuary he expected a more quiet life. Reality had other ideas apparently. After receiving a new houseguest all hell broke loose through atomic fire. Although considering his job he wasn't that surprised.
Relationships: Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s)





	Fallout 4: Man and Machine

Fallout: man and machine

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout. I do own my OCs.

Chapter: 1

One step forward thousands backward

Date: Oct. 23 2077

POV: Tristram Raeburn

I sat at my desk in my home in Sanctuary Hills reading through a report about the latest success of one of the many projects of my father's company. Raeburn Weapons Development and Research or RWDR for short. The Project was known as the Maschinengeist Project. The project was an attempt to create living machines in a human form.

Initially the project was laughed at until my Father, Rembell Raeburn, managed to actually make one back in 2070. The machine spirit he made was based on a suit of power armor, and looked entirely human. She stood about as tall as a suit of power armor, had the same strength as a suit of power armor, and the same resilience.

With just her bare fists she punched through walls, and bullets bounced off her skin. The major downside however was the fact she needed the same energy intake as a suit of power armor, but she also laughed in the face of standard nutrition. She could eat the greasiest of food for years and suffer no repercussions.

When she was unveiled at the Sandy Hook Proving grounds the generals and other upper brass of the military practically laughed outright until she ripped a high grade reinforced steel girder in half, without power armor or any form of assistance, and being shot by a shotgun with no apparent damage taken. After that the military was _very_ interested in the project. They could have soldiers that could eat practically anything without problem, could march for hours on end without breaks, and could wield heavy weapons without aid of power armor as they were power armor.

The military transferred loads of funding to my fathers project to the point he almost had a blank check. That pissed off other companies receiving funding from the military namely Vault-tec. My father suddenly became an extraordinarily busy man to the point I rarely ever saw him at home. Which didn’t help matters when my mother died from child-birth in 2076 giving birth to my youngest sister, Marcella.

I had moved out of the house in 2071 into my own here in Sanctuary hills. It ended up falling to me and my oldest sister to take care of our youngest sister. Our father tried to help us, but still stayed distant. He always took work seriously, but he took it too seriously now. He almost never left his company's headquarters, and after I refused to take his place as CEO he was scrambling to find someone to find someone to inherit the position if he died.

All of this on top of fanatically attempting to prevent new weapons of mass destruction from being built, or containing them, consumed his time and his life. He always seemed so confident in his ability to stop or contain new weapons of mass destruction from being proliferated. I agreed with his idea, but I didn’t share his confidence.

I was pulled from my musings by Marcella crying. I had hoped she would have slept a little longer, but not everything goes to plan. I turned and stood up only to find my older sister, Samantha, in the doorway glaring at me. Which equated to ‘go back to work I got this’. I sighed and sat back down, and she nodded and went to take care of Marcella.

Samantha always had a knack of telling when I was really busy. I was always willing to stop and help, but usually she doesn't let me if she has anything to say about it. She did own a restaurant but it went under a few months before the resource war broke out. After that she mainly stayed home and took care of Marcella.

I pulled myself from my musings again as another email popped into my inbox… from my father. I stared at it for a moment before I opened it and had a look through it. Apparently another Maschinengeist was constructed recently, and someone screwed up her programming a bit.

She was generally quiet and stoic, and she didn’t follow orders well. Usually she stared at officers blankly or glared at them if they annoyed her. According to my father she had a flash of interest when I was mentioned and when she had a photo of me shown to her. Making my father think it would be a good idea for me to house her for the time being.

I really hoped he wasn’t dropping a _Yandere_ onto my hands, Considering she is literally a heavy tank in human form. There wouldn’t be much I could do to stop her if she decided she wanted something. Of course my father, rather a few MPs, were dropping her off today at 9 in the morning. I glanced at the clock on my computer, it was 8:59.

I got up and headed for the door, and got there right as someone knocked on the door. I waited a second before answering. On my porch stood two MPs and one very tall woman in a crisp Army uniform. If it wasn’t for the rise and fall of her chest I would have assumed she was a statue.

“Sir. we’re here to drop off Lieutenant Drake.” one of the MPs told me standing at attention despite the fact I wasn’t in uniform.  
“Understood. Any paperwork I should be aware of?” I asked him and he nodded and handed me a clipboard.

“Transfer orders need your signature, and your registration for Vault 111.” the MP told me and I raised an eyebrow as I scanned the documents on the clipboard. Funny how my father has the time to do this, and register me, my sisters, and lieutenant Drake, but couldn’t find the time to even call us.

“Right. Do you by chance have a copy of them with you?” I asked the MP as I signed the documentation.

“No sir. There isn’t.” he replied curtly and I frowned a bit, and reread some of the pages. It wasn’t like my father to not have copies of paperwork for us to have on hand. Unless he was in a hurry… but this wouldn’t be something he hurried, right?

“Understood.” I told him as I handed back the clipboard. I stepped aside and let Lieutenant Drake inside while the MPs left. Drake appeared unaffected by the entire conversation, but she watched my movements closely throughout the exchange. She took my wordless invitation to my home and stepped inside.

After I closed the door, I found Drake and my sister in a staring contest. Drake appeared mostly unfazed by my sister’s glare, aside from going stock-still. My sister just glared at her then glanced at me with a questioning look.

“Samantha meet Drake, Drake meet Samantha. Drake here is a new Maschinengeiest father made. He wants us to look after her for the time being.” I informed my sister and she nodded. She looked back at Drake and looked her over again, my sister's signature glare no longer apparent.

“Well as long as you're a decent living being, and willing to lend a hand now and then we’ll get along fine.” Samantha told her and Drake nodded.

After their little encounter I led Drake to my guest room and she began unpacking from bags that weren’t there a second ago. I asked if she wanted help, but she shook her head and whispered, ‘I’m fine’. I barely caught it but nodded and went back out into the main area of the house to talk with my sister. As she would undoubtedly have questions.

“When did you know she would show up?” Samantha asked me as I sat down in the living room next to her on the couch in front of the TV. to the left of us was the kitchen and dining room. The living room, dining room, and kitchen were all connected. Only separated by the floor being tile for the kitchen and dining room, and carpet for the living room.

“Maybe a minute or two before they got here.” I told her before shifting my attention over to Codsworth as he brought me a fresh cup of coffee. I thanked him for it, and he gave me the best approximation of a salute he could with his robotic hands before floating off to Marcella’s room. He probably saw we were going to be busy talking for a while.

“Anything else aside from a new house guest?” Samantha asked me as I took a sip of coffee.

“Yeah. we’re all registered for Vault 111. Courtesy of our father.” I told her and she raised an eyebrow.

“Really now? Could I take a look at the paperwork?” she asked me brow furrowing when she noticed the lack of paperwork in hand.

“Probably not for a while. The MPs didn’t have any copies of the Paperwork. Of course, father isn’t one to just forget about that sort of thing.” I told her while setting my cup of coffee on the coffee table in front of us. Also noting the News anchor was handed a piece of paper. Usually new scripts are saved for breaks.

“Means he was in a hurry or busy with something else.” Samantha noticed the same thing I did and we both stared at the TV in rapt attention.

“We’re receiving reports of smoke trails followed by… yes, followed by flashes. Blinding flashes. Sounds of explosions… we’re-we’re trying to get confirmations… but we seem to have lost contact with our affiliate stations.” Both me and Samantha jumped to our feet as the anchor was handed another piece of paper.

“W-we do have- We do have coming in… that's um… confirmed reports. I repeat, confirmed reports of nuclear detonations in New York and Pennsylvania… my god.” the signal cut out after his last two words. Samantha was already running to Marcella’s room and I was right behind her. Slowing down only to bang on Drake’s door.

“Drake! Get outside! We’re going to the Vault! Now!” I yelled as I dashed into my room and grabbed the Dread-Ranger, my weapon of choice I wouldn’t go anywhere without as it hid under my coat quite well, from its holster. Samantha was already down the hall with Marcella when I exited. Drake stood in the Doorway of her room, her calm aura broken with wide confused and terrified eyes.

“Nuclear Detonations! We have to get to the Vault! Stay behind me!” I yelled and ran after Samantha. Drake fell into step behind me. We quickly caught up with Samantha. A short, although panic filled, run later we got to the entrance to the Vault-tec compound.

“I’m reporting this!” a Vault-tec representative yelled as he ran away from the entrance when faced with a soldier in Power armor, and a mini-gun. Drake went first driving a wedge through the crowd around the entrance.

“We’re in the Program! Three adults, one toddler!” I yelled right as the guard at the front, with a clipboard, opened his mouth to turn us away. He looked down at his clipboard for a moment before moving aside and letting as through as he checked something off his clipboard.

From there we ran further up the hill to the platform that lowered into the Vault itself. We all got onto the platform as a nuke hit to the south west of Boston. Sending a massive mushroom cloud up into the sky. Gasps and exclamations went through the group as a guard yelled at someone to send the platform down.

I thought about how much of my fathers work into trying to stop this from happening had just been swept aside and whether or not I should care.

* * *

After a long ride down into the earth we were let into the main vault. The Overseer and a few guards met us at the entrance all offering condolences and support. All of the personnel who arrived before the bombs dropped were all the same way with almost painful earnestness. I initially thought it was just to make us feel at home, but it felt too forced and deliberate to be that.

Strange vault personnel aside, we all got a Vault suit, which fit a little too tight to my skin for my liking. Samantha and Drake seemed to second and third that notion. Especially Drake as she frowned slightly at the fabric straining around her substantial bust. I made sure my eyes were well, and truly, averted as we were led into the Vault by a doctor.

The man looked more like the part of a scientist than a doctor, and only made my suspicions increase. The ‘doctor’ brought us to ‘decontamination’ pods. I knew better. They were Cryo-pods. Several Maschinengeist were kept in them after their creation. Either due to resource shortage considering the upkeep they demanded or to be able to deploy more of them at once. Instead of having them staggered.

I wanted to tell everyone what they actually were, but I didn’t want to put a target on samantha’s and Marcella’s backs. I decided to stay silent and just got into my pod after checking up on them and Drake. After everyone was in their pod they closed them all and everything got cold then black.

* * *

TIME SKIP

I coughed and wheezed as awareness returned to me. My sight was hazy as I tried to see what had happened to us. I was still in a pod as was Samantha with Marcella across from me. My body was extremely sluggish at best, and unresponsive at worst Samantha and Marcella appeared to be having the same problems. Both were alive though, and was enough for me to turn my attention to getting feeling back into my body.

“This is the one!” someone said outside the pods. I snapped my attention back up to find a woman in some kind of hazmat suit pointing at my sister’s pod.

‘What do you want with my sisters?’ I wanted to yell but only a sputtering wheeze came out. Another individual, a man, stepped into view with a rough and worn appearance.

“Open it.” he told the woman and she complied. The pod swung open but Samantha was still getting her bearings. She didn’t notice the people weren't Vault-tec personnel.

“Are-are we alright?” Samantha coughed out, still clutching Marcella close to her chest.

“Everythings going to be fine.” the man told Samantha while the woman in the Suit tried to take Marcella from her.

“I’ve got her!” Samantha started to catch on and resisted the woman's attempt to take Marcella. I slammed my left hand into the glass, which thunked pathetically on the glass, as the man aimed a gun at her head. My right arm hung uselessly by my side.

“I’m only going to tell you once. Let the girl go.” the man told Samantha, and I glared at him. As I couldn’t really do anything else.

“I’m not giving you Marcella!” Samantha yelled holding Marcella tighter to her chest.

‘BANG’ the man pulled the trigger, of a 44. Magnum my mind supplied. Everything seemed to shake when he did. Samantha fell back lifeless in her pod with a shocked expression stuck on her face. The woman in the suit now held Marcella trying to soth her.

“Get her out of here.” the man told the woman who nodded and hurriedly left my sight. The man came up to my pod and smiled. I memorized his face. Thanking my Hyperthymesia as I etched his face into my memory.

“At least we got the back ups.” he said simply then walked off. My entire pod, and probably every pod in this row, shook as something slammed into them before everything got cold and dark again.

* * *

TIME SKIP

I woke up coughing and wheezing again. I desperately clawed at where I was certain there was an emergency release to my pod. I came up with nothing before seeing it behind one of the bars in the cryo-pod I used to climb in. I resisted the urge to face-palm as I realized this was a different model of Cryo-pod then the ones my father had at his company.

I pulled the release and promptly fell to the floor as soon as it opened enough for me to get out. I dragged myself over to my sisters pod with my left hand and right leg. The other limbs were mechanically replaced and relied on the reactor in my chest which was attempting to turn back on.

I attempted to reach up to open Samantha’s pod, but I could barely reach the controls. And didn’t know what did what. I eventually pressed the control to open the pod and… and. Samantha laid in the pod. Lifeless eyes staring blankly with her face still stuck in a shocked expression. I allowed myself to fall to the floor.

I stared between the space between the pods. I started shaking and crying on the cold floor. For once in my life my mind stopped coursing through memories. Now only three stayed at the forefront. Samantha being shot and Marcella being taken away, the man's face, and Samantha's frozen corpse.

A part of me registered Drake kneeling behind me and pulling me up so I sat up. She held me as I cried giving me silent support. I don’t know how long I sat there in her arms grieving, but eventually I pulled myself back together. Thankfully in that time the reactor in my chest reactivated giving me back full mobility.

“Thank you, Drake.” I breathed out, and I noticed her nod in my peripheral vision. “I-I need to stand up.” I told her and she let me go, allowing me to stand. She stood up behind while I tried to pull myself to my feet. Key word tried. Drake just picked me up and set me on my feet. It took me a moment to rationalize what just happened.

“Drake I can stand up on my own.” I told her after I turned around. She just tilted her head to the side. I just shook my head and turned back to Samantha.

“I want to give her a proper burial, but we need to see what's in the surrounding area above ground first.” I told Drake and she nodded. I reached under the back of my shirt and pulled out Dread-Ranger. I pulled a small lever on its side and it shifted into a giant scythe.

Drake’s eyes widened significantly when I did that and she gave me a both confused, but curious look.

“This is Dread-Ranger. A mecha-shift weapon.” I informed Drake and she looked it over before nodding and looking at me.

“Can I have one?” she whispered in a barely audible voice. To be honest I expected her to ask.

“Eventually, yes. But I don’t have materials to make another here nor do I have another on hand.” I told her and she nodded.

Drake quickly took point as we moved out of the room. The Vault had definitely seen better days. It appeared to not have been disturbed for at least a century. However being this far underground protected the Vault from most wear from time, so it was probably longer than that.

We pressed on further into the Vault and encountered unusually large cockroaches. Drake dealt with them easily. Either stomping on them or punching the ones that tried to jump up at her. While Drake did that I investigated the Vault for any clues as to what happened.

I’d probably just be in the way if I tried to help her fight the cockroaches. As there weren't a lot of them and she basically one shot them all.

The first thing I noticed was the disarray in some of the rooms. It wasn’t something I’d expect to be caused by the passage of time. Looked to deliberate for that. Lockers appeared to be pushed over, a table was put on its side like an impromptu barrier, and chairs scattered haphazardly on their sides.

It looked like some sort of fight broke out, and there wasn’t that much room for people to live down here. there wasn’t any weaponry so far, aside from a 10MM pistol plus ammo, which probably, mostly, limited people to hand to hand combat. Add on the tight confines of the Vault a fight wasn’t all that unlikely.

Which was promptly confirmed to have been a fight by the terminal in the general living area. Everyone waiting for the all clear signal, but never receiving it. Eventually people get restless and want out which degraded into a fight between the security personnel and research staff.

Doesn't have anything about what happened after. Quite rude to leave all of us down here though… if they got out that is. The two skeletons we’ve found so far do not put things in a positive light.

I rendezvoused with Drake after going through the Terminal, and she had found the door to the Vault Overseer’s office. I filled Drake in on what I found on the Terminal. She looked rather displeased with the whole situation. I didn’t blame her at all as I was rather displeased as well.

We moved into the Overseer’s office and found the Overseer’s corpse still at his desk. At least I assumed it was anyways. His terminal had the research staff’s side of the whole situation that occurred down here. Although with a lot less sympathy or morality for the security personnel and us in the pods. Although the Cryolator does sound rather interesting to bad it's locked in a safe of some kind...

*PING* *PING* *PING*

I jerk my head up to find Drake holding the door to said safe. She stared at the door for a moment, seemingly unimpressed, before tossing the door over her shoulder. She pulled the Cryolator from the safe.

“What is this?” she asked quietly as she turned to me and held out the Cryolator.

“According to the Terminal it's the ‘Cryolator’. It's basically a gun that freezes things at a distance. Similar to how a Cryo pod would, but without the life support.” I told her as I looked over the page on the terminal again. She looked down at it then back up at me.

“Can I keep it?” she asked with a slight grin on her face. I am minorly disturbed.

“Sure. I might want to have a look at it later, though.” I told her and her slight grin turned into a slight smile. I am moderately disturbed. It seemed to vanish into wherever she got her luggage from when she first arrived at my house. At least I assumed it was. My sanity demanded I not ask.

I just shrugged and opened the evacuation tunnel. We quickly proceeded down the tunnel only pausing as Drake stomped and punched a few Cockroaches. Damn things are too big to be cockroaches anymore though… wonder if anyone, who's alive, above ground came up with a name for them yet. Probably wouldn’t be the best idea to let me name them…

We got to the end of the tunnel that let out into the front of the Vault with the door still sealed shut. There were two more corpses in here. giving me slight hope that some people got out, but were probably already dead. It had to be a hell of a long time since they bugged out of here. Seeing that the skeletons had no flesh on them anymore. The giant cockroaches probably ate it all. Which wasn’t a pleasant thought.

The good news is one of the skeletons by the Vault door controls has a Pipboy. I quickly picked it up and cleaned it off as best as I could. It would come in handy later, particularly with other Vaults. However Pip-boys don’t always work with other companies' technology. Probably Vault-tec trying to sink other companies into bankruptcy.

Moving on, I used the pip-boy to override the Vault door controls and get it open. As the agonizingly loud door opened slowly we had another look around the entrance. We found a few stim-packs and 10mm rounds, but nothing else aside from empty boxes and rundown equipment. We could probably run by later and scavenge it for parts.

We both moved quickly through the door after our last look around. Neither of us wanted to remain. The Vault was practically a tomb on its own. Despite that fact I would be back to bury the people that died here properly, but first… I have a hunt to start.

**Authors note:**

**I’ve been working on this for awhile. Thought I’d post it and see what people thought of it.**


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